Manual testing of software often represents a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. Automated testing tools for software applications can therefore offer a number benefits in project speed and efficiency. For example, the speed and efficiency of the automated testing of domain name server (DNS) platforms exceed those of the manual process of sending individual DNS requests and checking the validity of the returned result. Automated DNS tools therefore can execute far more test cases and produce a more complete dataset associated with discovered defects than manual approaches. A test case may for instance comprise a series of instructions for executing a specific functional test, such as to determine whether a registered domain name resolves to the correct Internet protocol address, links to a proper source file, or produces other desired results. Software applications, such as testing scripts, may be designed to perform specific test routines for DNS or other applications.
Systems used for some test cases, however, prove difficult to automate using standardized tools. For example, in many software testing environments, testing scripts may be coded using any of a wide range of programming languages. For instance, the syntax for opening a file in the scripting language “Jython” is distinct from other scripting languages, such as “Groovy.” Thus, a test case calling for file manipulation may require separate coding for each scripting language used in the testing environment. In such scenarios and others, the differences between scripting languages, file formats, and other details may lead to practical issues, such as complicated syntax which must be hand-coded several times for each test case, increasing the chances of human error or coding incompatibilities.
In the operation of networks including the Internet, DNS platforms or services cooperate with a set of registries which maintain lists of registered domain names along with associated Internet protocol (IP) addresses along with a host of related information. Different registries may, however operate different support systems using a number of different protocols, and the like, and may implement upgrades and service features that are different from or incompatible with other registries. These complexities have led to considerable difficulty in attempts to thoroughly and efficiently test registries. Likewise, the ability to perform effective, automated testing of DNS resolution servers has as noted been equally problematic. It would therefore be desirable to provide tools, platforms, and techniques that are capable of efficiently testing infrastructure systems such as domain registries, DNS resolution servers, and other infrastructure systems.